The Paradox Shift
by sheepstamper
Summary: Harry learns of Merlin’s secrets and once discovered dimension hops to another world  will it be better or worse  what could go wrong?


**Disclaimer**: - I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. Anything you recognise is hers; everything else is purely my imagination-running wild…..

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**Chapter One – Merlin's Discovery**

He had spent years searching for this place and he had finally found it. The room was unlike anything he had ever been in, the stone floors glass-like in appearance, the black sheen on the floor shimmering in the light from the everlasting candles attached to the walls.

The entire room was circular and in the centre stood a majestic stone funeral bier, upon the bier was a person encased in a crystal shroud. The shroud covered the body from head to toe and reflected the light in an amazing display of colours, the light reflecting off the walls and the floor.

He walked around the bier observing the crystal-encased person within. He knew who this person was. The body was persevered using magic and the person atop the bier looked peaceful. One hand placed over the heart while the other rested below the ribs holding a long wooden staff, the clothing was of old woolen cloth, brown with Celtic symbols stitched into the fabric, not so many so that it appeared gaudy and only above the breast of the robes. The white beard lay neatly against the old man's chest and dropped to just below his waist. His face, although weathered was peaceful and looked unblemished, no signs of scaring or pockmarks associated with living in the early century's.

He continued to walk around the body, silently observing everything that came within view. He did not want to make a sound, sound didn't belong in this cave, only thoughts.

'Merlin'

This was the finally resting place of Merlin, the greatest sorcerer to have ever lived, the one from which magic was taught and learnt, one which was said to have taught the four founders of Hogwarts. It had taken years to discover the resting place and now that it had been found he didn't want to reveal it to anyone. The thought of turning the greatest man into an attraction did not appeal and the mere thought that the Ministry of Magic would do just that was abhorrent.

The search had taken him the length and breath of Britain, it had taken time and it had taken research of the type that he thought he would never achieve. It was only now that his search had finally ended and a new one about to begin.

Stopping at the foot of the body, he looked at the old man encased in crystal, lying atop of the funeral bier, he thought that he would have been taller. The legends had portrayed a man of strong stature, of indescribable power, of forgiveness, of betrayal, the leading light in a world of hurt, this man lying in front of him had brought magic out of the dark ages and shown the it the light. This man had helped wizards and muggles alike, with no exceptions.

He could feel the magic in the room, resonating in the very air, only strong wards had prevented this room from discovery before now. Only he had had the power to penetrate the wards surrounding this room….. this place….. this cave.

The search had begun years ago, after the defeat of the greatest dark wizard ever to have lived. The search for the resting place of Merlin had started as a means to an end, to discover the hidden power that he was supposed to have held. This was not true, there was no real hidden power. Friendship was the power that he had. The love and friendship of his friends, mentors, colleagues, and lovers, that had been the 'power he had known not'. The power of friends to place him above others, the love of someone willing to sacrifice their life for him, this had been the power, this is what had achieved the destruction of the dark lord.

He stood back observing the bier and the man atop it, drinking in the ambience of the place, thoughts running through his head. He had discovered the final resting place after years of searching.

Reading through the books of the restricted section of Hogwarts had only hinted at the power and some of the spells of Merlin, but not the resting place. The spells took power to perform which is why they were in the restricted section. There were only a few that could have performed them, Albus Dumbledore, Tom Riddle and himself and then the previous two could not have performed half of the easiest ones due to the power required.

The search for Merlin had taken years to come to fruition, to this point, after a concentrated search of '_Bryn Myrddin_', supposedly the place where Merlin was trapped by a sorceress after teaching her magic. After teaching this sorceress his magic she turned on him and using his own spells against him, trapped him in a cave underneath '_Bryn Myrddin_'.

Of course the legends would have you believe that Merlin was trapped for all eternity, without any hope of escape, but just as a teacher will teach you their knowledge, a little knowledge is held back, not on purpose but because that is human nature. You can only teach people who are willing to listen and even then perhaps a little is lost in the translation or the teaching, this is what occurred to Merlin. In teaching his apprentice and finally being trapped, it was the untold knowledge that lead Merlin to escape his prison.

He had found this place, this cave, beneath the trees on the hill at '_Bryn Myrddin_'. Merlin had hidden the cave so completely that it was near impossible to find, only by using his power had he discovered it. The distance echo's of magic, powerful magic could be felt near the centre of the trees, it was this magic that cried out to be found. The Celtic runes inscribed on the very rocks giving away the presence of the prison, these runes could have easily have been mistaken for water marks, through countless years of weathering, but he knew better, they had a distinctive shape and pattern to them, the power they infused into the rock keeping the prison secure. It had taken months to understand the symbols and translate them into a meaningful language which had allowed him to break the wards.

Inside this prison were diary's, Merlin's diary's. The diary's contained the hidden knowledge of power, rituals and spells unheard of in today's magical society. Knowledge never thought lost because it had never been taught. How could you have knowledge once thought lost if it had never been discovered in the first place.

It had taken months to understand the information within the diary's, the language being old did not translate well into everyday modern English, but achieve it he did, understanding some of the concepts within the pages was difficult and some would say impossible, but once again after months of study and trail and error, he managed to achieve it.

After reading the diary's and finally understanding the contents and concepts this had lead him to look for the '_Stone of Merlin_', or as some would call it '_Merlin's Stone_'. Like many legends this had the familiar tale of death and destruction surrounding this artefact, of _treasure beyond treasure_ being hidden beneath the it. Finding the location of the 'stone' had been difficult, like many things in legend, there was always a shred of truth in the tale and he had found that truth.

Knowing the location of the stone had only been the start, deciphering the encryptions on it was another, again the Celtic runes, slightly different to the ones at '_Bryn Myrddin_', was the cause of the problem. Treasure beyond treasure was supposed to be located beneath the stone however this again was not the case.

_Stonehenge_ was the starting place, although waiting for the summer solstice was a wait that nobody wanted, the place had been crawling with muggles, drinking, smoking, chanting, it was incredibly funny at what muggles thought were magical chants. He had to disillusion himself in order to undertake the next part. Waiting, hidden from the muggles, he waited until the horizon could be seen through the stone doorway. Sitting cross-legged with '_Avebury_' the other ancient monument to his back he waited for the sun to set, the luna cycle had to be complete for the direction of the suns last rays to show him the way to the '_stone_'

The sun had just about disappeared when it happened, the last of the rays hit the centre of the archway causing the muggles to shout in their joy, however that was not what he was looking for. Part of the light refracted off the centre most column and streamed West wards, only by using his mage sight was he able to pick this up as the light steamed towards the West. Quickly gathering his things he disappeared with a small crack, the noise drowned out by the muggles who were celebrating the solstice.

Stopping just outside the town of Tintagle, he sat down to locate the stone. He could feel the presence of ancient magic coming from within the area of '_St.Nectan's Glen_', approaching the glen, he made his way through to the waterfall at the centre of the glen. He could feel the pull on his magic there was something behind the waterfall. Passing quickly through the waterfall, he came against solid rock, looking at the rock he could tell that there was something behind it. Using his powers he pushed his magic at it trying to detect what was preventing him from entering the void behind. Thinking back to his earlier days he decided that there was only one thing that would prevent his entry into this area. Placing a small blade against the palm of his hand, he quickly sliced open his palm and placed it against the solid rock face.

The rock shimmered for a second before an opening appeared in the rock-face, slowly entering he discovered a small room, no light. He muttered a spell and light sprang into life above his head, a floating ball of luminescence illuminating the small room. The '_treasure beyond treasure_' placed on an overly large table in the centre of the room, a chair just slightly behind the rotund table.

Looking around the room, it appeared that the only objects here were the table and chair and the 'treasure', sitting on the table. Walking slowly round the room, he went to sit down at the table, not sure that the chair being able to take his weight he stood looking at the items on top of the table, he could feel the magic emanating from the 'treasure'. He silently laughed to himself. This was truly _treasure beyond treasure_, books. There were books placed on the tabletop, journals, parchment, ink wells, quills, and diary's – this truly was treasure. There was no gold or gems, no silver, no swords, daggers or shields, only books.

Testing the area with his magic, he could not detect any spells that would cause him harm, there were preservation spells placed on the items but nothing that he could find of a dangerous nature. Sitting down on the chair facing the table he suddenly felt a presence fill the room, looking around quickly and trying to get up from the chair he soon discovered that he was held fast. Pouring his magic to release him from his invisible bindings he noticed that a cloaked figure materialised out of the very walls, coming closer and closer until it raised a hand, a soft golden glow surrounding the raised hand and he fell into unconsciousness.

When he awoke it was dark and he was hungry, his head felt like someone had split it open with a blunt axe, multiple times. He eyes were blurry and he felt like he had been sitting for hours in the chair. He noticed that the books, on the table, had been disturbed, placed in different places to how he remembered them.

Rising slowly out of the chair, he noticed that his once fitted clothes now hung from his frame and he staggered towards what he thought was the entrance to the room, groping blindly in the dark at the walls. Thinking about his exit, although with his head about to split open, this wasn't easy, he ran his hand down the rock face and cut his hand open and placed it against the rock-face, the doorway appearing in front of him. Staggering out of the cave and stumbling into the waterfall in front of him, he soon found himself in the stream, water crashing down upon his body as he floated towards the bank.

After a brief amount of time he made his way slowly to the riverbank, hauling himself out he made his way back to where he was staying only to discover that it had been nearly three weeks and the staff at the hotel he was staying in had vacated his room and placed his things in storage. The hotel staff had just thought that he had left, like many of the tourists and left his things behind when he left.

After paying for another room and eating a rather large dinner, he settled into his room, where his mind felt like it had been split open by '_that_' blunt axe again. Tossing and turning in his sleep, he discovered that during his prolonged stay in the cave he had absorbed the entire contents of the books that had been arrayed on the table. The knowledge gained from the writings was immense, spells thought never to have existed, charms that was beyond everyday wizards, potions never been made because the information necessary to make them had been lost in antiquity.

An endless stream of information crossed his mind, spells capable of time travel, transfiguration spells that could be made things permanent, potions that would cure nearly all ills, the gift of languages, how to manipulate spells in their basic forms, The dairy's, journals, parchment were a gift of knowledge. He came to understand this as in his _minds eye_ his saw the spells in practice, noted the chants, the symbols etched in the air. With knowledge came power and this knowledge and power seemed to be absorbed by his body, his inner well of magical power growing larger, although much to his chagrin it did nothing to his physical body.

Upon waking and again having a large breakfast, his body felt better but still under nourished, his three weeks in the cave had depleted him of his physical energy and it would probable take weeks to being it back to where it once was. Walking away into the nearby forest, apparating was just not for him, he would always fall over or stumble about after appearing, he tried a few of the lesser spells from his memory of the cave, noting that they did not work as his had thought they should have. His wand did not want to convey the sort of energy through it. Maybe it was not constructed to take the sort of power required for the spells to work correctly.

Sitting down after failing to achieve the desired results he thought about the construction of the spells he was trying, they demanded power and vast quantities of power. Although he had power, channeling it through a wand did cause his wand to react, it was as if the wand was constricting the power trying to get through it, narrowing it, trying to refine it. Finally coming to a solution what he needed was a staff, this should be able to handle the power required to deliver the required results. There shouldn't be any problems in delivering the require power to the spells.

The only place that he thought that he would be able to get a staff was Ollivanders, Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC, although there was the problem. Ollivanders only made wands not staffs, thus began his search for a staff.

The last place that he had been was _Carmarthen_, a small town in the West of Wales, the last know place of _Merlin's Tree. _Once again there was a legend surrounding this artifact, a prophesy even. The prophesy stated that if Merlin's Tree ever fell down then the town of Carmarthen would fall, the town folk even went to the extreme of pouring concrete into the base of the tree to keep it upright. The tree finally having it roots cut off from oxygen died and the only thing saved from the tree was a branch taken from it before being removed from the centre of the town to prevent it from falling and injuring anyone.

The single branch was taken to Carmarthen Museum and displayed in a glass case, he of course had paid a visit to it and using magic had determined that the branch had no life left in it, dying when the town's people had poured concrete into the roots of the tree. Thus began the search for the final resting place of Merlin, perhaps he would have his staff with him.

The search had taken a long time to locate and he had traveled to Merlin's Mound at Marlborough College in Marlborough in Wiltshire, to Drumelzier in Tweeddale in Scotland, Le Tombeau de Merlin near Paimpont in Brittany finally coming to Ynys Enlli off the Lleyn Peninsula in Wales. This is where he now stood looking at the face of Merlin, encased in a crystal shroud.

After the knowledge gained from the diary's, journals, and various parchments discovered along his travels, he cast a few spells at the shroud in order to determine if there were any enchantments placed upon it. He wasn't foolish to realise that there wouldn't be any protections cast on the final resting place of Merlin. He didn't want to reach out and finally meet his maker for the sheer fact that he couldn't wait for a few moments to reach through the shroud and remove the staff, although the simple fact of removing the staff of Merlin gave him pause for thought anyway.

After casting a number of detection spells he backed away, he couldn't find anything. If what he discovered was true then the person in front of him didn't have any protections placed around them at all, he couldn't even detect the presence of the everlasting candles in the room, and the simple fact that they were there and alight said otherwise.

Knowing that to jump in foolishly could cost him his life, he moved away to think about his next move. Perhaps he had cast the spells wrong, his magic should have picked up something, anything, but they had not detected the slightest flicker of magic. He knew that Merlin was known as '_The Prince of Enchanters_' and that the enchantments placed on the crystal shroud could cost him his life but he couldn't see how this had been achieved.

Sitting and completing his predicament for a couple of hours, he slowly rose and stood at the side of the ancient wizard, after casting countless spells at the shroud and finally determining that there was nothing left to do he slowly reached out to touch the shroud.

He felt a slight tingling feeling as his hand passed through the shroud, pleased that he had achieved this so far, he proceeded to reach for the staff of Merlin, however once his finger tips touched the staff that's when everything changed.

Time slowed and everything became hazy, One moment he was in the room with Merlin encased in a crystal shroud and the next he was somewhere else. It was a greyness, no light or dark, just a greyness that stretched into infinity on all sides although the plane that he stood upon could be classed as solid, his feet seemed to be standing on something solid.

Out of the void he could see someone approaching, someone who resembled Merlin or a very good imitation of someone resembling Merlin. He tried to move after coming to his senses but again which ever way he walked he appeared to be in the same place as he started, even though he had no reference point in which to refer to. It was as if this was the spot he had to be in, this was where he had to remain.

He turned and watched as the figure approached. Closer and closer the figure came, neither slowing or speeding up, just approaching at a constant speed.

"Well, you appear to have penetrated my final resting place." The figure said, looking at his face.

He just stood there, not able to move, not even able to form any coherent thoughts. He felt utterly helpless, all the knowledge gained over the past few years seemed to have left him.

"I know it is difficult to understand where you are, but believe me you are everywhere and nowhere all at the same time" The figure smiled, "In case you are wondering my name is Emrys Caer-Fyrddin or Ambrosius Caer-Fyrddin, my surname being the place of my birth". He eyes seemed to smile as they observed the man in front of him.

"Yes, yes…….I know, however I am or was more commonly known as Merlin. Something which I hoped would never happen but something I secretly wanted to happen"

"It is nice to know that magic still exists within your realm, I take it from your appearance that you discovered both my '_so called prison_' and my legacy at '_St.Nectan's Glen_', quite a hiding place that was, took forever to create that cave behind the waterfall"

"Please take a seat, we have much to discuss" He paused in his speech. "If you are here for the right reasons your time will be beneficial however if you are not then your time will be short and you won't remember a thing of this visit or of your knowledge that you have gained from reading my journals"

He looked to where Merlin had indicated and saw an old fashioned wooden table and two chairs a little way off, cautiously he found that he could move, not walk, over to the seating arrangement. Sitting himself down at one of the chairs he waited for Merlin to take his seat opposite him. This felt like an interview, his hero sitting in front of him was conducting the interview and he never felt so unprepared in his life.

"I think that an introduction is in order don't you" Merlin said looking directly the person in front of him, his eyes smiling, crinkling around the corners.

After discovering that he could formulate words, "My name is Harry James Potter"

"Ahh, Mr Potter, who ever would have thought that one so young would have found me after so many years. You do realise that you are the first person to ever have found my resting final resting place"

Harry did not what to say, sitting in front of him was his hero. The founders were everyone's heroes apart from Harry's, he always thought that the founders of Hogwarts were great in their own right but not his hero material.

"I see that you refrain from speaking", Merlin mistakenly took Harry's silence for one of respect, not one of complete bafflement.

"Well it must have been an interesting journey, searching for all of the clues, although they were not placed in order to find me, just that some of that knowledge that you have found was not meant to be discovered. The spells are not for mankind to do with what they will." Merlin said, looking at Harry over the table, "They are meant for a higher power than man – but then I used them so you could say that they were meant for mankind, all mankind, not just wizard's but muggles as well – Do you understand Mr Potter?"

Harry sat at the table and contemplated what he had just been told. What was it that Merlin wanted to know, would he be judged on why he wanted the knowledge, would he be asked to swear an oath to use magic correctly, not to abuse it. The knowledge that he had gained from the diaries and journals did not differentiate between light and dark magic it only said it was magic, magic in its purest form, magic at the highest level, just magic.

It was what the caster did with the magic. The spells that made the difference between what was light and dark, good and evil. Not knowing what to say Harry decided to remain silent.

"Well, you seem to have nothing to say, Harry?" Merlin said, "Why did you wish to find me?"

Harry knew that honesty was probably his best policy at this moment in time, he was stuck in a place unknown to him, he couldn't use his magic to get out, as it appeared to have deserted him at this instance in time.

"I started to look for your spells before I defeated one of the evilest wizards ever to have lived in the magical world." He started, "Your spells were going to be a means to an end…. at the time" He could see Merlin's face frown but continued,

"I believed that with your spells, I could defeat this wizard in battle and then everything would have been okay with the world. He was causing unnecessary suffering to both wizards and muggles alike"

Harry paused for breath, his last statement seemed that he just wanted to use Merlin's spells for the destruction of one wizard, this was primarily true at the time, but after a considerable amount of time searching that goal had changed.

"That wasn't the case, I did defeat him but not with any of your spells, my friends believed in me and that is what turned the tide when confronting him. They lost their lives in the last battle. Everything that I held dear to me was stripped away in an instant, my family, although not by blood died, the woman I intended to marry died, my friends died. Everything was gone" Harry sighed, "In the end I defeated him but at the cost of everything."

Harry knew that he was about to breakdown again and this was diffidently not the time to do it. After controlling his fear and anxiety he continued,

"After the battle, our Ministry of Magic thought that they would parade me about the wizarding world as their saviour, it was not something that I agreed to do nor wanted to do. So after a time I disappeared and continued to search for your spells. It started off as a means to an end but the more I found out the more that I believed that I could bring back the magic for everyone", almost silently to himself, "including myself"

"You are aware that only someone with great power could have entered my final resting place, don't you?" Merlin asked Harry, not waiting for an answer he continued, "and only one with no malice in his heart could have truly penetrated the shroud that was placed around my body without being removed from the room and sent somewhere so remote with their memories removed."

Harry was a little shocked at this statement, he could detect no spells on the shroud when he observed it and the detection spells that he cast did not throw up any spells of this nature either.

"No, I was not aware of that" Harry said finally.

"Yes, I put some enchantments upon the shroud which would determine what sort of person who found my body was. It would seek out their true ideology, their true intensions." Merlin smiled at this statement, the corners of his mouth turning upwards, "Yes, if they were not sincere then they would have been sent away remembering nothing of the events that lead up to finding my body"

Harry decided to tell Merlin about his plans since looking for the diaries and journals.

"Err, Merlin," Harry started, "I think that I should let you know that since beginning my journey looking for your books, I have thought about returning to correct the past, helping to save my friends". He paused looking down at the ground, although there wasn't really any ground to look at, "I found one of your spells that indicated that you could return to the past and correct mistakes, although from what I have read in your journals you never made the attempt yourself?"

Harry looked up to see what Merlin reaction would be to this piece of news,

"Why would you want to attempt that" Merlin said, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Harry, "It will do you know good to dwell in the past and things can not be so easily changed. If you attempt that then it will only bring more misery to yourself as you see your friends once again and they would be none the wiser. You can not hide your true feelings from your loved ones"

Merlin continued to regard Harry as he sat at the table, "It would not be a wise person who would attempt something of that nature. The past is best left alone and continue with the future. You have already said that you have already removed a great evil, why do you wish to do so again?, what would you gain by doing it again?"

Merlin paused, "How many times would you return to correct a minor mistake which lead to the death of a friend or loved one, once, twice, ten times? Sometimes it is a wise man that can walk away from trying to change something which should not be changed"

"You came seeking the future. Do not return to the past to correct a few mistakes. Each of us dies at some stage, there is no cure for death and no one is immortal. You would only see them die in old age and believe me that is worse than a quick death."

Merlin continued, "Even in my death I can sense a power in you, greater than I have ever felt before. You have the potential to change the world, do not squander that on a thankless task, even if it does please your own heart"

"Use the gifts you have discovered for the betterment of all peoples, wizard and muggles alike" Merlin said rising from his seat.

Harry did not know whether to staying sitting or stand, Merlin didn't indicate that he should do either and so he waited, not knowing what to do.

"I believe Mr Potter that I have gained the necessary information about your charter to determine the type of person that you are." Merlin paused looking directly at Harry, "You see your thoughts have been open to me since you appeared within this place, this void if you like, and my understanding of you is complete, I do not think that you would abuse the powers that you have discovered and that you will use then for the betterment of all peoples"

"I believe that you came for my staff," he said, his eyes now crinkling, "Once you take it from my body, you will come to understand the power that you truly hold."

And with that Merlin slowly walked away from Harry and started to disappear from view, walking towards.

The next thing that Harry knew was his hand finally clamping around the staff that Merlin was holding. A sudden light illuminated the staff and Harry at the same time and in that connection, Harry finally understood the power that he held.

The ability to travel to other dimensions, the power to change the future of wizard kind, to change the face of the planet if he really wanted. Although the only thing Harry wanted to do at this moment was to find peace.

Harry moved towards the opening and taking one last look at Merlin he exited through the opening and out into the sunlight. Looking at his watch it appeared that Harry had only been in the cave a matter of moments, time dilation is a truly inexplicable thing.

Turning round his cast the same enchantments that Merlin himself had cast on the cave and the tome, ensuring that no one would find the body of Merlin in the future and that it would be safe once again.

Holding the staff in front of him, Harry looked at it. It didn't appear to be any different from an ordinary piece of wood although it did have runes caved up and down its shaft. There were no jewels embedded in it and the only piece of metal work that could be seen was two beautiful golden bands placed at each end of the staff itself, small Celtic symbols engraved around the circumference of each band.

Taking one last look at the cave, Harry slowly turned the staff in his hands, trying to find the best fit. It seemed that he had an intimate knowledge of how to operate the staff and the spells of Merlin.

Merlin was right, once he held the staff he understood all of the knowledge contained within the journals, even the spells that he didn't understand came to him unbidden.

Thinking about what Merlin had said about changing the past to effect to future, Harry slowly raise the staff into the air and muttering a spell, rotated the staff about in a three hundred and sixty degree circle.

A vortex opened in front of him and taking one last breath, Harry stepped through into the black vortex and disappeared from sight, the only sound was a sucking sound as air rushed into the fill the sudden void created and a small _'pop' _as the vortex closed.

If anyone was looking at the edge of Hogsmeade then they would have seen the air swirling around in a circle about seven feet in diameter, the colours pulsating around the edges of the circle, flowing through all the colours of the rainbow, glittering and shimmering. Then they appeared to collapse upon themselves as a 'slurping' sound echoed in the air and then a body stepped through and stepped lightly onto the ground.

Harry Potter had just arrived! With a small movement from his staff he shut down the vortex and stepped away from his landing point, he walked the few remaining few yards towards Hogsmeade.

He wasn't sure where he would arrive in Hogsmeade, but this is definitely where he planned to be, on the outskirts of Hogsmeade town.

Looking around he could see Hogwarts in the distance, rising above the town, its towers displayed majestically against the setting sun.

Pulling his cloak around him, he slowly started to walk towards the centre of town, drinking in the sights and sounds that he saw. This was a busy evening, the shops that were open were closing and putting away their wares, the people that remained in the town making there way home from a busy day, doing heaven knows what.

Harry was fair looking, quite tall and refined for a person of his age. He was only twenty-two, but walked with the confidence of a sixty year old. In his life, he had seen many things that a person one hundred and sixty should not have seen, death, destruction, murder, mayhem, chaos, this list appeared endless, the loss of family and friends, loved ones and colleagues.

His continued to walk towards the centre of town, his eyes constantly scanning the area in which he was walking, always looking for unseen dangers. By the time, he had reached the edge of town where the houses could be seen, his staff was the size of a wand and he had placed it against his wrist, his cloak covering the wand holder.

As he neared the centre of town, he could see quite a few fearful glances coming his way, deciding to ignore them he continued walking until he reached The Three Broomsticks and entered.

Harry made his way over the bar and ordered a glass of butterbeer, he couldn't forgo his favourite drink, even if people his age wanted to try others drinks and even firewhiskey.

Taking his drink Harry found a small table near the back of the pub and sitting down found a copy of the Daily Prophet. Taking a quick look through the pages of the paper, he noticed that there wasn't a great deal of difference. Minster Fudge was still the Minister of Magic, Albus Dumbledore was still the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Lucius Malfoy was still making a nuisance of himself over at the ministry, although for the life of him he couldn't work out what Lucius Malfoy did for a living.

Taking a sip of his butterbeer, Harry settled into reading the Prophet and observing the people around him. People seemed slightly wary of him, he supposed because he was a stranger but soon dismissed that idea because this was a public house and only one of a few within the wizarding world, surely these people couldn't have met everybody and there must be other people that these people didn't know.

Smiling to himself, he gazed around the pub, seeing if he could spot anyone that he recognised. Only after a couple of sweeps did he see some people entering the pub that he knew. Professor's Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout and Sinistra, they all entered together and made there way over to a small table, not to far from where Harry was sitting. Madam Rosmerta came over shortly after they had all sat down and took their drinks order.

Harry sat mesmerised as he saw his old professors enter the pub, he couldn't believe that they would go to a public house during term time, but then again he had never considered them outside of Hogwarts either.

Smiling to himself, Harry sat at his table and listened to their conversation, although trying his best not to look like he was trying to listen to their conversation was difficult when one's head was tipped slightly.

"Well another start to the year and we still have no Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher" Professor Sprout said, looking round to see where their drinks were.

"I know, Albus has tried everywhere to get one, but no one wants to take a position that has been cursed by You-Know-Who himself", replied professor McGonagall

"Well the only thing is, we are lucky that the first classes for Defense do not start until Tuesday" said Professor Flitwick, "Which gives Albus Saturday, Sunday and Monday to try and get someone in – although I don't think that he will have much luck in doing so" he continued.

"Well they could always try and get cover from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I'm sure that a few of the Aurors would like to go into teaching instead of fighting all the time" Professor Sprout said, her eyes not leaving the bar, still waiting for her drink to arrive.

Madam Rosmerta returned with their drinks interrupting their conversation. "Sorry for the delay professors, had some trouble getting the taps to operate, the _frothing charm_ seems to want to be renewed every three days," she said huffing.

"Right, two Gillywater's, half a-goblin mead and a butterbeer", she said putting the tray of drinks on the table.

Harry quietly laughed to himself, it was nearly as bad as he could have imagined, Professor's McGonagall and Sprout were having the Gillywater's, Professor Flitwick was having the goblin mead and Professor Sinistra was having the butterbeer.

"Well I don't see how Albus will get any Aurors to attend Hogwarts, the students are nearly as bad as the deatheaters, well some of them." Professor Sinistra said, taking a sip of her butterbeer, "and with those Weasley twins – well!"

"Come now, the students aren't that bad," Professor McGonagall stated, becoming the deputy head once more, "A little discipline never hurt anyone and the removal of points and their own peers in their house keep them in order, it has worked for years and will work for years to come"

"This still doesn't resolve the problem that we will have no Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher come Tuesday," insisted Professor Flitwick.

"Yes, you are right, it doesn't address that little problem" Professor McGonagall replied, taking a sip from her Gillywater.

Harry continued to listen to the Professor's talk about the lack of Defense professor and wondered where he could get the opportunity to apply for the position. It may not be the position that he wanted but it would get him into a position where he could teach what he had learnt from Merlin.

Getting up and approaching the bar, Harry finally got the attention of Madam Rosmerta.

"Is it possible for me to get a room for the night?" he asked

"Certainly dear, just sign your name in the book and I will arrange for one of the house elves to show you the way, would you like breakfast in the morning?" she asked him.

"Yes, thank you." Harry replied, now what was he going to call himself, he couldn't very well place Harry Potter down on the register, in case there was a Harry Potter at the school or could he? _Why did dimension hoping seem such a big problem_. If there was an existing Harry Potter at the school then that would be purely coincidence, he was twenty two and there were plenty of John Smith's and Mary Jones's in this world, why not two Harry Potter's.

After placing his name on the register and leaving the bar, he slowly made in way up to his room. Although he was not registered in this world, not everybody would have to be registered and he had nothing to hide. He would make his way to Diagon Alley tomorrow and enquire at the Ministry of Magic about the vacant position for the role of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

He had brought with him his OWL's and NEWT's and they were nearly all outstanding or exceeds expectations, he shouldn't have any problems getting the interview.

Tomorrow he would find out. Should he stay or should he try a new dimension?

* * *

_Let me know what you think..._

_Sheeps_


End file.
